The Alphabet Soup Research Reports
by kennotlah
Summary: "Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have occurred before the Venjix virus decimated the world. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Stella, about how Alphabet Soup started it all"
1. Chapter 1

The alarm blared. Subject K had pressed the panic button. It had been five times in the past hour.

Maria was angry. Of all times Subject K had to press that button, it was when she was going to shred some old reports before knocking off work. Cursing under her breath, she raced down the hallway while cradling some yellowing reports in her arm.

She breathed deeply and put on a sweet smile. She strode into a white-walled room sealed by a triple durasteel-reinforced blast door.

A six-year-old girl with stunning blue eyes dressed in a faded onesie ran up to her and handed her a violin with all its strings broken. Maria tucked the reports under her arm and took the violin from the girl.

"Give me the telly remote and a lolly. I want to watch _Engine Sentai Go-onger."_

The rude girl was Subject K, the eleventh doctoral candidate Alphabet Soup was grooming. They call her K. Maria was in charge of her education and her well-being.

K never stopped criticizing _Engine Sentai Go-onger_ 's scientific realism and its plot, but she watched it four times. This will be her fifth time watching it.

 _"_ Again? _Dios_ _mío,_ K! You have five week _z_ left before you have to defend _zis_ doctoral thesis on _ze_ biofield application. You -"

"It is finished ages ago and I'm bored," K whined.

Maria muttered under her breath,"kids."

"What is this?"

K fished out a report that was tucked under Maria's arm. It caused the rest of the reports to clatter on the ground.

Maria let out a silent gasp of exasperation before squatting down to pick up the reports.

"What is this? _Whatisthis_? _Whatisthiswhatisthiswhatisthis_?"

"It _eez_ _juz_ a research report by a former co-worker, K. Ignatius. We used to call _'imz_ iggy."

"Ziggy?" K frowned.

"Iggy. Short for Ignatius."

"Is it any good?"

"No. _eez_ crap," Maria said flatly. She immediately pressed the reports into K's tiny hands.

"Read this. Tear it up and make paper planes or helicopters. Use it as toilet paper. I don't care. Just don't _prezz ze_ button until tomorrow."

Maria walked away quickly. She spent too much time babysitting K. She was late for a dinner with her boyfriend already.

It takes a village to raise a child: Nurturing the best minds of Alphabet Soup

by Ignatius Xavier Venj, Research Analyst

Abstract: Alphabet Soup had been grooming prepubescent genii from as young as five to advance scientific progress at all costs. For generations, Alphabet Soup used deindividuation techniques employed by the military to instill discipline and focus in these young minds so as to get them to produce scientific breakthroughs in various STEM fields. However, none of the ten subjects in Alphabet Soup's program survived beyond their forties. Subjects A to J were highly intelligent individuals with a median IQ score of 283 and were talented in more than a single area. However, they started exhibiting symptoms associated with different mental disorders after five years in Alphabet Soup. As such this paper will seek to investigate ways to optimize the functioning of such individuals. Results of interventions created by different psychiatrists were derived from video surveillance recordings of the subjects' time spent in Alphabet Soup till their last days. This paper would recommend that senior management could adopt the following policies regarding their subjects: open and frank communication, increased time spent outdoors, increased social contact have a positive effect on the mental health of the subjects.

To Cite: Venj. I. X., (2017). _It takes a village to raise a child: Nurturing the best minds of Alphabet Soup._ (Alphabet Soup Research Brief Report 42/2017). Boston: Alphabet Soup.

...

K closed the report after she finished reading it and remarked, "It is rubbish."

She tore out the first page and made a paper airplane with it. Then she made a paper helicopter. and five more animal-shaped cars.

"Whee!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Doc! Doc! Someone is looking for you!" a young girl screeched.

A dark-haired woman looked up from her papers and frowned. School had just ended. Who would be knocking on her door?

She opened her door and she saw a grizzled man in military fatigues who promptly saluted her.

Dr. K nodded apprehensively.

"How may I help you?"

"I'm Warrant Officer Hicks. Colonel Truman ordered me to bring you this. You need to see the message inside it."

He took out a holotape and handed it over to her.

She raised an eyebrow, "Shouldn't he be promoted by now? It's been nearly a decade."

Dr. K let Hicks in and shut the door behind them. She took the holotape and inspected it.

"Ma'am, I think you must be speaking about Colonel Truman's father. Colonel Truman said he served under your command as Ranger Operator Series Red."

Dr K. snorted.

"If this is about a job offer, he can save his breath. Scott should know me better than this. I gave him the morphers because he surrounded this school with soldiers and threatened to shut us down if we did not comply. When I asked him to help me find Ziggy, Did he help me? So tell me why should I help him?"

"Ma'am, that is why I think you need to see what is in the holotape"

Dr. K frowned and she pressed the play button on the holotape. A hologram sprang up from the tape.

It was Ziggy. There was only a single light hanging from the ceiling and he appeared to be in a large disused server room.

Dr. K felt her throat go dry instantly.

He was unshaven, bruised and haggard, almost unrecognisable, except for his eyes. The same eyes she stared into for a long time.

"Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have occurred before the Venjix virus decimated the world. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Stella, about how Alphabet Soup _[1]_ started it all -"

Hicks suddenly raised his hand. Irritated, Dr. K paused the video and glared at him.

"Ma'am, What is that [1] thing? If you don't mind me asking?"

"It's a footnote that is placed into the video to help viewers get more context to the video. Just press ctrl-F and search [1] and you'll find what is the thing the author is referencing to."

"Ma'am, do you know who is Stella?"

Dr. K shrugged. She felt a lump rising in her throat and a sudden panic. Who was this Stella and what did she do which would make him abandon the children...and her?

She pressed the play button.

Ziggy swallowed hard.

"As I was saying. Dr. K was the one who created Venjix. However, she created the Power Rangers and everything that took down Venjix in the end. If it is not for her, humanity would have been extinct. But the pardon that Scott's dad gave _[2]_ would not save her if the public found out that she was the one who created Venjix. We have tried looking for She will never be safe and I'm running out of time and ideas.'"

Ziggy looked absolutely miserable and defeated. Dr. K's hands clenched tightly into fists.

"I've been looking for any and everything I can to prove her innocence. I've been to four bases linked to Alphabet Soup already and I have been reading as many reports I can get my hands on. I don't understand many of them, like this list that gives callsigns to the geniuses[3], which I'm sure that there is a secret code in there somewhere. That is why I've dumped the documents into this tape _[4]_."

Ziggy's voice started rising "K is no monster. She lived as a prisoner for her entire life just because of her abilities."

Ziggy covered his face and blew his nose really loudly. His eyes were red and wet.

"I miss K and the children badly. I missed K's birthday and I never got to say this to her, but I -"

Then was a sudden crash and there was a chorus of ominous beeps.

Ziggy got up and swore, "Grinders...They found me. Good thing I 'borrowed' Scott's morpher _[5]_ when he wasn't looking."

"It's time to get in gear." Ziggy intoned and he tapped his morpher.

Nothing happened.

A laser bolt grazed his shoulder instead. Ziggy went down screaming

"Shoot. Looks like I need his DNA _[6]_ to activate this after all."

Ziggy took out a syringe from his pocket and stabbed it straight to his thigh.

There was a sudden flash of light and in the place of Ziggy Grover was the Red R.P.M Ranger.

That was when he caught another laser bolt straight to his chest.

Then the screen went dark. Dr. K's eyes were as round as saucers.

Hicks coughed, "We need to know ma'am, is this Ziggy Grover?"

Dr. K muttered, "It is him. We have to help him before the DNA rejection _[6]_ kills him."

Her eyes shot up to Hicks, "Where did you find this holotape?"

"We found it when we raided one of the dumping grounds of Alphabet Soup, Ma'am."

Dr. K got up.

"I have to go there."

* * *

The Red Ranger sat down, clutching at his sides and breathing heavily.

Then an all-too-familiar voice was heard.

"Begin the download."

* * *

 _[1] The Alpha Unit was a think-tank that came into being in 1993 after the government decided that the protracted state of alien attacks in Angel Grove required a military response._

 _After a mutant threat had nearly destroyed Silver Hills in 2001, the government_ reorganised _Alpha Unit into Alphabet Soup, with Ms. Angela Fairweather serving as the first Director of Alphabet Soup._

 _Alphabet Soup was given the mandate to develop technologies that can enable the government to respond to any existential threat to the planet, be it alien, demon or mutants from the future. This is in recognition of the fact that there may come a time when there may not be a Power Ranger team to defend the planet and its way of life._

 _\- History of Alphabet Soup_

 _[2] This happened during the time when Dr. K. was charged with treason as a result of her actions at Alphabet Soup. However, Colonel Truman granted her a full pardon \- Power Rangers RPM episode "Ancient History"._

 _[3] In its early days, Alphabet Soup developed a geniuses programme which supervised ten young women from their childhood to their deaths. These are their callsigns and from that, inferences can be made about the work they did:_

 _Aisa, Seeker of worlds_

 _Bia, Tamer of forces_

 _Clotho, Explorer of worlds_

 _Decima, Leveller of worlds_

 _Eurus, Lost One_

 _Fortuna, Architect of Corinth_

 _Gaea, Creator of Corinth_

 _Hestia, Homemaker_

 _Iris, Engineer for Humanity_

 _Juno, New Age Strategist_

 _The new subject known as K would be endowed the callsign: Kirke, Transformer of men, in reference to her work on the Ranger Operator Series._

 _\- Excerpt from Ziggy's notes: Month 5_

 _[4] Directory of C:\Alphabet Soup\K\Night-time reading_

 _Aisa (1994). Preliminary observations of the Morphing Grid for interstellar exploration_

 _Bia (1996). Application of Zeo Crystal Radiation in aerospace engineering_

 _Clotho (1997). Turbo-boosters: Efforts from reverse engineering from the wreckage of the Turbo and Rescue Zords._

 _Decima (1998). Test-flight results of Turbo-boosters for the Terra Venture project_

 _Fortuna (2000): Applying designs from the Lightspeed Aquabase into the construction of Corinth_

 _Gaea (2001): Time for Grinder Technology: Reverse engineering the wreckage of Frax and the Doombot to create a robotic workforce for project Corinth._

 _Hestia (2002): The myth and power of_ Animarium _. Unpublished Manuscript_

 _Hestia (2003): Power of Ninjutsu: Interviews with_ Kanoi Wantanabe _and Sensei Omino. Unpublished Manuscript_

 _Hestia, Oliver, and Mercer (2004): DNA-Machine interfaces: Preliminary work with prehistoric DNA._

 _Hestia (2006): Briarwood Incident: A study in magical energies. Unpublished Manuscript_

 _Iris and Hartford (2007): Enhancing humans in post-birth DNA modification. A comparison of subject G and H's embryos._

 _Juno (2008): Proposing a scientific response to the Dai Shi incident_

 _\- Contents recovered from a data drive in an Alphabet Soup computer_

 _[5] When Major Scott Truman confiscated the Ranger Operator Series technology from Dr. K in the name of national security, he kept his_ morpher _by his side as a precaution while the rest remained locked up at an undisclosed base. With a little bit of shadow puppetry, Ziggy lured Scott away long enough for him to 'borrow' Scott's_ morpher _._

 _\- Excerpt from Ziggy's notes: Month 0_

 _[6] Due to the fear of the_ morphers _being stolen from the owners and being used against them, Dr. K designed the_ morphers _such that only the DNA of the registered user can unlock its morphing powers._ _The only possible way to cheat the_ morpher's _authenticators which_ is _to flood one's entire body with DNA of the registered user to trick the_ morpher _. However, such an act is tantamount to suicide as DNA rejection would most certainly grant the user a very excruciating death._

 _\- Security assessment of the Ranger Operator Series morpher_


	3. Chapter 3

"We'll be meeting Colonel Scott and the rest of Eagle Squadron at the site. With your help, we can find more information about Ziggy and this...Stella," Lt. Hicks remarked.

Dr. K nodded mutely as she gazed out at the worn-down roads of Omega City.

The jeep lumbered on cautiously. Even though it had been years since Venjix was defeated, Omega City was left largely in ruins. Only criminals would dare seek refuge in a place where Venjix had left many traps. Landmines dotted the place to prevent future incursion by Rangers after they infiltrated Venjix-controlled Omega City.

Suddenly, her tablet computer gave a warning beep. Someone was hacking her.

Dr. K frowned and her fingers deftly raced across her tablet screen, performing a counter-hack.

In moments, the screen revealed a sprawl of numbers. Dr. K drew a sharp breath. She recognized that source code anywhere.

"It's Venjix."

"Venjix? Impossible!" Lt. Hicks exclaimed as he took his eyes off the road to stare at the tablet computer.

"Look out!"

Suddenly a mound of dirt erupted from the ground and flipped the jeep over. Dr. K and Lt. Hicks were thrown out of the jeep. Dr. K fell straight onto the pavement with a bone-crunching sound. She tried to get up. Her leg hung limply. Broken. Lt. Hicks was nowhere to be seen.

A massive robot towered over them. It looked like a giant version of a badly-made Grinder.

It picked up the jeep and crushed it in its fist. It shifted its gaze towards Dr. K. She began scrambling and tried to crawl away from the giant Grinder. A giant hand closed over her

Dr. K squeezed her eyes shut in terror. She waited for the end.

But it did not come.

She opened her eyes and saw that the Grinder had stopped. It had

There was a pneumatic hiss and the Red Ranger climbed out of the cockpit and staggered towards Dr. K.

"Ziggy?" She whispered weakly. Her broken leg made it hard for her to get up.

He dropped a rucksack full of holotapes and collapsed to the ground. There was a flash of light and Ziggy lay spread-eagled on the ground.

Dr. K crawled up to him and checked his vitals. He was unconscious but breathing. Then she noticed another thing. Ziggy looked normal.

The robot slurred.

"MA- MA."

Dr. K shrieked.

The Grinder's eyes glowed crimson. It scooped her up and lumbered off, leaving the unconscious Ziggy behind.

* * *

Lt. Hicks crawled out of the hole he was hiding in and pressed his communicator.

"Dr. K has been taken. I repeat. Dr. K has been taken. We need the Eagle Squad. Over."

"Roger that, Gem and Gemma will be on their way. Over."

"Send the MPs. I have Ziggy in custody. Over and out."

Lt. Hicks looked at the rucksack of holotapes that Ziggy was carrying. One holotape looked far older than the rest.

It was an audio recording.

Lt. Hicks hit the play button.

* * *

Ziggy: Stella, here are the holotapes that you guys requested. Where are the rest? I thought they were coming?

Unknown woman: The other four -[long pause] Sorry, the others had to... Never mind about that. Have you got more information for us?

Ziggy: Did anything happen to Dr. K while I was gone?

Unknown man: It's bad. The Scorpion Cartel gave Sherrinford the video of Dr. K interacting with Venjix. She doesn't have much time. You know what happens if the whole world knows what she did.

Ziggy: I know that. I've been working with you for the past three months and ... there's too many things to do. I can't find whatever it is you are looking for to exonerate her. I don't even know where to look.

Unknown woman: [tsk] The job is simple, Mr. Grover. All you need to do is to go to the Alphabet Soup bases in Omega City and grab every piece of data and pass them to us... If something can exonerate Dr. K, it will be in there.

Ziggy: You tell me they are making plans to set up a committee to charge and execute her for treason. But why? Wasn't Mason Truman's pardon enough?

Unknown man[to the Unknown woman]: You are from Legal. You explain it to him

Unknown woman: I don't know much about international humanitarian law especially since a handful of lawyers are left after Venjix destroyed the world. But whatever pardon Mason Truman issued would not be able to shield her. Can you imagine the public anger if they knew that the creator of Venjix lives? They would lynch her and tear down your school.

Ziggy: Why won't you do more for her? You went to our school. She was your teacher.

Unknown woman: That is why we got you. No one in the government can be trusted. Especially after we found out that Lt. Hicks was a part of them.

Ziggy: Hicks is a part of Sherrinford? I knew him from my Ranger days! Why would he -

Unknown man: Be a part of Sherrinford? Be a part of a secret cell within the Army? I can give you one reason: Outing Dr. K will lead to the impeachment of President Mason Truman and oust him from power.

Ziggy: What about you guys? Why should I trust you?

Unknown man: Simple, Sherrinford is our enemy. The enemy of my enemy ...

Ziggy: Is my friend. Alright, fine I will keep you posted when I get something. Same time at the next dropsite?"

Unknown woman: Sure

[Sound of Door closing]

Unknown woman: KC, should we even have engaged a civilian to do this job? Shouldn't we have told him what Sherrinford was really after?

Unknown man: You underestimate him. Ziggy has both the capability and the motivation for this mission. He faced down a cartel and was a part of the Rangers. I don't think he lacks the resourcefulness. Also, he obviously has feelings for Dr. K. He feels so inferior to her, with her being the genius and him being the clown who often messes up and needs her to help him out. Of course, he'll seize this chance to do anything for her, even if it means throwing away his life in the process. Moreover...

Unknown woman: I know. I know… Plausible Deniability. If he gets caught. Nothing he does gets tied back to Eurus. We will deny everything that he says. But isn't it cruel to play chess with people's lives? What if Ziggy dies? Can you imagine what it would do to people who care about him? What if we find nothing to exonerate Dr. K?

Unknown man: If it happens, it is a risk we have to take. We already got Scott to keep the morphers under lock and key. But we cannot let those designs fall into Sherrinford's hands. I shudder to think if the designs of the Rang-[sharp inhalation]

[sound of door opening]

Ziggy: Haha! Sorry! My mistake I left my bag behind. I'll be out of your hair soon enough.

Unknown woman: No problem. Just do your best Ziggy.

* * *

Lt. Hicks smiled.

He pressed his communicator again.

"This is Hicks. I know something about the group who have been thwarting our plans. They are called Eurus and one of their members is Stella, who is a student from Dr. K's school."

Lt. Hicks dropped the holotape on the ground and crushed it under his foot with a satisfied look on his face.

* * *

Dr. K woke up to the sound of machines beeping.

She was in a dim room and she could smell the acrid smell of machine oil.

She looked down and saw that her leg was put in a splint.

"Good morning, Mother."


End file.
